Divergent
THIS PAGE CONTAINS MAJOR SPOILERS If you want more information vist the The Divergent Wiki ''' ''Divergent'' is the debut novel of American novelist Veronica Roth, published by HarperCollins Children's Books in 2011. It is a young adult dystopian novel set in the so-called Divergent Universe, that features a post- apocalyptic version of Chicago. The novel follows Beatrice "Tris" Prior as she explores her identity within a society that defines its citizens by their social and personality-related affiliation with five different factions Also driving the novel is a romantic subplot between Tris and one of her trainers in the Dauntless faction, nicknamed Four . The novel has been compared to other young adult books such as The Hunger Games and The Maze Runner because of its similar themes and target audience. In particular, the novel explores the themes common to young adult fiction, such as adult authority and the transition from childhood to maturity, as well as broader motifs, such as the place of violence and social structures within a post-apocalyptic society. Its major plot device, the division of society into personality types, is similar to Phillip K Dick's 1964 novel C''lans of the Alphane Moon'' and Rupert Thomson's Divided KIngdom. Beyond its literary context, Roth's open declaration of her religion as a Christian has brought commentary from Christian communities both endorsing and challenging the novel. Roth wrote Divergent while working on a creative writing degree at Northwestern University, and it was quickly purchased for publication. Divergent is the first book in a trilogy that was completed in October 2013. Roth's first book of short fiction set in the Divergent universe is forthcoming July 2014: Four: A Divergent Collection, edited by Katherine Tegen. Summit Entertainment purchased the media rights to the book, and production on the movie, also titled Divergent'','' took place in 2013. Plot The novel is set in a post-apocalyptic Chicago in which survivors divide into five factions based on their dispositions: Abnegation, for the selfless; Amity, for the peaceful; Candor, for the honest; Dauntless, for the brave; and Euridite, for the Intelligent. Each year, all sixteen-year-olds take an aptitude test that describes the faction for which they are best suited. After receiving the results, they can decide whether to remain with their family's faction or transfer to a new faction. Sixteen-year-old Beatrice Prior is born into an Abnegation family. She doesn't feel like she belongs in Abnegation, because she doesn't see herself as naturally selfless. Her aptitude test also supports this, inconclusively indicating aptitude for three factions: Abnegation, Erudite, and Dauntless. Her tester, Tori , warns her to never share this fact, as it makes her a Divergent. Before the Choosing Day, she agonizes over whether to stay in Abnegation to satisfy her parents, or whether she should change to another faction. On Choosing Day, Beatrice decides to leave Abnegation and join Dauntless, while her brother Caleb chooses Erudite. Their Dauntless instructor, Four, explains that not all the dauntless initiates will enter the Dauntless faction; only the top ten will stay while the rest will be dismissed and become factionless. During her initiation into the new faction, Beatrice renames herself Tris. During the initiation, she befriends some transfer initiates -- Christina, Al, and Will-- while coming into conflict with others -- Peter, Drew, and Molly. Initiation is broken into three stages. The first involves learning how to handle guns and knives as well as engaging in hand-to-hand combat. Despite being physically weaker than most of her fellow initiates, Tris finishes the stage in sixth place by beating Molly. Once the rankings are announced, Peter is jealous of the first-place finisher, Edward , and, under cover of night, Peter stabs Edward in the eye with a butter knife. During the parent visiting day, Tris realizes that her mother originally grew up in Dauntless. Meanwhile, Erudite stirs dissent against Abnegation leadership in the city government. The Erudite's reports accuse Abnegation's leader, Marcus , of abusing his son, who joined Dauntless two years before. Reports vilify Tris' parents because both their children switched factions, and falsely claim Abnegation is hoarding supplies. During the same period, Tris befriends some Dauntless-born initiates , including Uriah, Lynn, and Marlene. Stage two involves simulations, similar to the aptitude tests, which force the initiates to face scenarios symbolic of their fears. Because Tris is Divergent, she recognizes that she is under a simulation while others do not, and can work the simulations to her advantage. Tris was ranked first. Peter, Drew, and Al attack Tris, threaten sexual assault, and attempt to throw her into the chasm at Dauntless headquarters, but Four intervenes. Later, Al begs Tris's forgiveness, but she rebuffs him, and he later commits suicide. The final stage of their initiation is a fear landscape, which gathers all of their fears in a single simulation. In the fear landscape, all of them, Divergent or not, will be aware that they are under a simulation and must use the skills they learned in the previous stages to overcome each fear. While preparing for this stage, Tris's relationship with Four continues to grow, and he lets her into his own fear landscape. Tris learns that Four only has four fears in his landscape, a record, hence his nickname. She also learns his real name, Tobias, and that his father is Marcus, the very Abnegation leader who Erudites accuse of physically abusing him during his childhood. Four later shares with Tris information he has discovered about the Erudite's plans to use the Dauntless to stage an attack on the Abnegation. Tris successfully overcomes seven fears in her fear landscape. After her test, Tris, along with all other Dauntless members, is injected with a new "tracking" serum that is supposedly only activated if someone goes missing. Before the official initiation ceremony, Four invites Tris back to his private apartment, and Tris expresses her feelings for him. Soon, the ceremony begins, the final rankings are posted, and Tris discovers she has been ranked first. In the midst of celebrating, though, she suddenly realizes that the Erudite will use the "tracking" serum to force Dauntless members to carry out their plans of invading the Abnegation. During the night following the ceremony serum induces a simulation and all of the Dauntless become sleep-walking soldiers ordered to attack the Abnegation compound. The serum does not work on Tris or Tobias because they are both Divergent. After arriving at the Abnegation compound, Tris and Tobias try to break away from the pack to escape. However, Tris is shot, and when Tobias refuses to leave her behind, they are captured and brought before Jeanine, the Erudite leader. She injects Four with an experimental serum, which counteracts the Divergent effect by controlling what he can see and hear. Jeanine directs Tobias to be sent back to the Dauntless control room to oversee the attack, and sentences Tris to death. Tris wakes up sealed inside a real-life glass tank that fills up with water, but her mother breaks the tank and rescues her. As they escape, her mother reveals that she is also Divergent, but while helping Tris escape, she is killed. Tris escapes but is forced to kill Will, who attacks her while under the influence of the simulation. She finds her father, Caleb, and Marcus in the safe house, and they resolve go to the Dauntless compound to find the source of the simulation. Fighting their way through Dauntless headquarters, Tris' father sacrifices himself to clear the way for Tris to reach the control room. When she confronts the mind-controlled Tobias, he attacks Tris. In the fight, Tris realizes she cannot bring herself to kill him, and surrenders, causing Tobias to break through the special sight-and-sound-only simulation. Freed, Tobias helps Tris shut down the Erudite simulation and free the remaining Dauntless from their mind control. They rejoin Caleb and Marcus, as well as Peter, who had helped Tris find the control room in exchange for his safety. The group then boards a train to the Amity sector to find the rest of the Abnegation survivors. Characters Beatrice Four/Tobias Factions Abnegation Euridite Amity Candor Dauntless ''Disclaimer some text here is from the Divergent Wiki'''''